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Energy services truck a total loss in fire near Rifle

A truck servicing the energy industry caught fire early Friday afternoon, causing a large, black plume of smoke to rise in the Anvil Points area west of Rifle.

“The truck was a total loss,” said Donna Gray, a spokeswoman for Williams Production RMT.

The truck belonged to a Williams contractor. No one was injured in the incident.

The truck was being used to heat fracturing fluid and keep it from freezing at a centralized well fracturing pad that Williams operates on private property north of Interstate 70. The pad is used to distribute hydraulic fracturing fluid by pipeline to nearby wells, where the fluid is pumped underground to stimulate natural gas production.

Garfield County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Holly Hopple said the truck had four tanks with oil and gas condensate that caught fire, causing the black smoke. It also had tanks holding about 1,600 gallons of propane, which fire crews were able to keep from exploding.

The truck driver told authorities he was warming up the tanks when he saw flames coming from beneath the vehicle. The fire started around noon, and firefighting crews cleared the scene by 3 p.m.

The fire extended to a small area around the truck, but no structures were threatened and no evacuations were necessary.

The Rifle Fire Department will investigate the incident. Also responding to the fire were Grand Valley, Burning Mountains and Glenwood Springs fire crews.